Twenty-six of the greatest lessons I was ever taught.

This is a chapter from The ABCs of Dan M. Wilson.

This lesson is one that I found works in just about every aspect of life – the ballad of wants and needs – as it deals with priorities.

To be honest I don’t even recall the exact scenario during which Grandpa Dan gave me this bit of wisdom as all I recall is the advice itself.

“Break things down into wants and needs.”

Life deals us a great many hands, some are great while others are downright horrible. Both of those are easy because you know how to play them – you bet big on the great hands and fold on the crummy ones. More often than not, however, we find ourselves within situations where we have to choose one or the other. It is at those junctures that you should weigh on a “wants vs. needs” scale.

For example, it’s a Thursday night and you have an exam in a class the following day. A friend of yours calls you up and wants to hang out. Should you study for your exam or go hang out with your friend? You want to go see your friend but you need to study. Winner: studying.
Seems pretty simple and straight forward, right? Here’s a more in-depth example and one that I deal with on an almost daily basis at work.

Break things down into wants and needs.

Example: I have a client that is being demanding. Their project is due on Friday and it’s Wednesday already. They keep making changes to the list of things they want included for the Friday launch. While I want to appease the client, I need to get the site launched on Friday. So what do I do? I sit with the client and have them determine their own wants and needs. Anything that is pertinent to the site’s functionality is a need while anything that is purely aesthetic and does not affect how the site operates is a want. We then progress from there.

It’s certainly not rocket science but in moments of stress you may be prone to forget the simple scale of categorizing your choices based on wants and needs. If you can, knuckle down and prioritize. It just may surprise you at how simple your decision making ends up being once you can view it with this clarity of thought.

Wants and needs, that’s what it all comes down to in the end. And needs always outweigh wants. Remember this simple bit of advice and you’ll do well.